Friday, 3 August 2012

Thus continues my series of horrible reads. Each worse that the previous one. This is the first of the series of erotica - popularly called as Mommy Porn. It is no : 1 rated in all the book charts. Though I am not an erotica kind of person, a no:1 seller kind of attracted me to this book.

Spoiler Warning!!

The book begins with the story of a college graduate interviewing a young business man - girl attracted to the man. the man for some reason attracted to her. and then we get to the story - he wants her to be his sex slave and she is in love with him so is ready to do anything (or so we are led to believe).. then we get a full description of sex games they play with their toys.. the girl has serious self esteem issues and the guy is a psycho..

Thankfully I am not reading the rest of the series. In this one, she did not quite agree to sign the agreement making her the submissive. In the next one apparently he will modify the agreement and we are on again for more drama.

Animal's people is set in the aftermath of Bhopal Tragedy. It is an incident that brings tears to my heart. If you want to read about the tragedy - pick up 'Five Minutes Past Midnight in Bhopal'. It is a heart breaking book about everything that went wrong on that day and the days before.

Anyways, coming to this book. I felt it was a sick book. The protagonist was a crippled guy with very low character. Full of foul language and not a least bit moving.

This is the book 4 of the Inheritance Cycle written by Christopher Paolini. Thus ends the worst book that I have ever read. you have to imagine my plight. I have already read 3 and though I did not quite like the way the books were written, the story line was interesting. The theme was heavily copied from all the fantasy fictions around. I have not read many - but I could sense lord of the rings, harry potter and bartemaeus in the narration.

The book is 800+ pages long.... He goes on and on about god knows what...

This is the book 1 of the Inheritance Cycle written by Christopher Paolini. Though the book had the scope for being a masterpiece the author did not do justice to the story line. Having said that, I am working my way thru the series and don't mind reading it.

Tuesday, 29 May 2012

I am taking a break from trying to write a review. Reason being - I am not able to write... I wanted to do this blog to try and learn to write. But it is not going in the right direction. So will try again later. For now, I will continue to list books I read, rate them and take part in challenges that I have taken up....

It was a perfect book for me. The language was simple and perfect. It is a heart breaking story. Every page will send you into a depression (if you are like me, my moods get influenced by the books that I read). But it is all worth it at the end. A perfect 10/10 book

I cannot believe I owned this book for 5 years and read it only now. I bought it in a sale for just 50 cents way back when we were on US. Luckily packed it along with the very few books that I brought along. Thanks to the challenge of reading from bookshelf I read it and am so glad I did. Best book I have read.....

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

Book Title : The MatchbreakerAuthor : Chris ManbyYear Published : 2006Date I Read : 8 May 2012My Rating : 4/10

Theme

A spoilt rich girl on a mission to break up her fathers wedding

What I thought about the book

A quick read. No brainer book. I would not have been so disappointed had it not been for the fact that the protagonist seems to be missing the obvious fact as to who the guy she is dating is. That kind of forms the flow of the story. As we know (having heard it been told to her) about it, it is quite irritating.

Was my filler after I finished Pigeon English. Can't read 2 sad books back to back.

Story of a Maths Prodigy who made it to Oxford at the age of 13 and her times with her difficult family

What I thought about the book

The story was catchy. But the narration was poor. I later read that it is based on the life of Sufiah Yusof who was also a Maths Prodigy who made it to Oxford, then ended up being a prostitute after not being able to take the pressure.

In our library there are books on display in the front with themes that change every week. This week was books with birthday/gift/party etc as theme and that is how I ended up with this one. The other theme was books with blue cover :-) that is my next book.

From the book cover - Newly arrived from Ghana with his mother and older sister, eleven-year-old Harrison Opoku lives on the ninth floor of a block of flats on an inner-city housing estate. The second best runner in the whole of Year 7, Harri races through his new life in his personalised trainers - the Adidas stripes drawn on with marker pen - blissfully unaware of the very real threat all around him. With equal fascination for the local gang - the Dell Farm Crew - and the pigeon who visits his balcony, Harri absorbs the many strange elements of his new life in England: watching, listening, and learning the tricks of urban survival. But when a boy is knifed to death on the high street and a police appeal for witnesses draws only silence, Harri decides to start a murder investigation of his own. In doing so, he unwittingly endangers the fragile web his mother has spun around her family to try and keep them safe. A story of innocence and experience, hope and harsh reality, Pigeon English is a spellbinding portrayal of a boy balancing on the edge of manhood and of the forces around him that try to shape the way he falls.

What I thought about the book

It is narrated in the voice of the 11 year old. I kind of liked that. It kind of gave the same feel as I was reading the book - the room.

It is a little sad at times. But since it is from the point of view of a little one, there are lot of fun moments where you will get a laugh

Friday, 20 April 2012

Book Title : The World of NagarajAuthor : R K NarayanYear Published : 1990Date I Read : 19 Apr 2012My Rating : 5/10

Theme

The World of Nagaraj is the story of Nagaraj living a quite life with the wife Sita and his widowed mother. he has inherited money and so does nothing but sit around or gossip around the town of Malgudi. Things don't continue like that for long.

What I thought about the book

It is a typical RK Narayan story set in the imaginary town of Malgudi. It is hilarious reading about the daily activities of Nagaraj. He is a very quite person who cannot stand up for himself which makes his encounters with other people including his elder brother Gopu somewhat funny.

RK Narayan is one of those authors I always feel that I should like. It is like PG Woodhouse. I always want to enjoy them. But somehow I never enjoy them as much as I want to... It is not my kind of book, I guess.

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Theme
The book is about being a single mom in the 1960s. We read the story of Angela Brown giving birth to her son Paul and their lived before, during and after.

What I thought about the book
It was a very touching story. Knowing that it is an Autobiography brought tears to my eyes. Trying to write this blog entry, I am crying again. Very touching. It was a very fast paced read. Loved it.

When I finished reading it, one thought crossed my mind. Hopefully all that is written is true. I remember a long time ago reading a book Million Little Pieces by James Frey. It became quite popular after he appeared on Oprah's show. It turned out later that he had fabricated many things in the book.

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Theme
Cassie's 10 year marriage with Gil just fell apart when she realized that he was having an affair with a friend of hers. Her 3 best friends were with her celebrating her 10th anniversary when she finds out. They decide that she will spend the next year in the 3 cities they live in - New York, Paris and London to heal her wounds, to learn new ways of life and may be even find love.

What I thought about it

It was a total chick flick. I was in a low of reading and it was everything that I was looking for in a book. Easy read with fast paced story. It is a long book with around 600 pages, but the pages flew by. Do not expect a classic.

Sunday, 15 April 2012

Mack a father of 5 kids takes 3 of his kids camping. While trying to save 2 of his kids from a sinking Canoe, his little daughter goes missing. The story we read takes place a few years after this incident when Mack gets a letter from GOD asking him to come to the Shack where the last evidence of his daughter was found. We travel back to the past to read the story of what happened in the camp site and also what happens in the present.

What I thought about it

The part where we read about the past was interesting. Even the present was readable till we get to the point where GOD appears to him as an Black lady (Father), a jewish man (Jesus) and a Chinese looking woman (Holy Spirit). From then on it is a book on Christianity and its teachings. I guess if you are looking for a spiritual read, this is a good book. Unfortunately I was not...

Saturday, 17 March 2012

Paths of Glory is a book based on the life if George Mallory. He was the climbing leader of an expedition to the top of Mount Everest in 1924. It walks us thru his life and his climbing expeditions

What I thought about the book

Though biographical in nature, it had every element of suspense and drama in it. I really enjoyed reading it. It was all the more thrilling cause I did not know about him when I started reading the book. Well written.

Friday, 16 March 2012

A son renounces sex so that his old father can remarryA daughter is a prize in an archery contestA teacher demands half a kingdom as his tuition feeA student is turned away because of his casteA mother asks her sons to share a wifeA father curses his son-in-law to be old and impotentA husband lets another man make his wife pregnantA wife blinds herself to share her husband’s blindnessA forest is destroyed for a new cityA family is divided over inheritanceA king gambles away his kingdomA queen is forced to serve as a maidA man is stripped of his manhood for a yearA woman is publicly disrobedA war is fought where all rules are brokenA shift in sexuality secures victoryThe vanquished go to paradiseThe victors lose their childrenThe earth is bathed in bloodGod is cursedUntil wisdom prevails.

What I thought about the book

This is a illustrated retelling of Mahabharata. Unlike the Shiva Trilogy (Immortals of Meluha and Secret of the Nagas) which are works of fiction based on the life of Shiva, this is just the actual Mahabharata. What is interesting is the small stories that we do not know or have not heard. In addition to the sanskrit mahabharata, the author has included stories from all over the country and some even from south east Asia.

On a personal note, I always feel that Pandavas were as bad as Kauravas in many ways. I am particularly irked by Yudhishtira who to me is not a man if he is not capable of stopping his wife from being publicly disrobed (as well as being the cause of it). The Author has left me hating them even more. Not that I like the other side. They are equally bad.

The concept of Jaya and Vijaya was also intriguing.

Do read this book if you are interested in new stories. It was a really fast read.

Monday, 12 March 2012

I was all packed for my long flight to India from London - book selected a long time ago. When I was checking in, the airlines offered to send one of our cabin along with the checkin so that we need not carry all the stuff along with our little one. As luck would have it, I missed taking my book out. I was waiting at the gate. It was one of the far away gates. After passing all the shops and most gates, there was a tunnel which was the way to the last 5 gates. It took us around 15 min to get there. Since I had time, I decided to run back to the shop and pick myself a book. This is what I ended up with. Reason - it looked interesting and it was on sale :-)

Did I tell you before - I never read a review of a book or a movie. Knowing parts of it makes me not interested in it. Sometimes, the backcover of the book tells most of the story. So I did not really know what I was buying.

Another lesson that I have learnt before is never to start reading a book in a train or plane. I always read atleast 50 pages before I board. As you can see I had no choice today. So I just could not read it. I knew I had wasted my money on this one. Anyways, I was out of book at home again. How I miss my home :-( I decided to give this a shot again. I am glad I did.

Theme

This is set in Spain (as the title indicates) post the civil war (1936) during the second world war. It is the story of Englishman (ex military) Harry Brett who is to work as a spy in Spain. His task is to spy on an old school mate Sandy Forsyth. Sandy's girlfriend, Barbara Clare is trying to find out about her ex-boyfriend Bernie Piper. Harry, Sandy and Bernie were together in a public school as kids.

What I thought about the book

It is a well written book. A little understanding of Spain's history will help in reading the book. I did not have a clue, but I picked it up from the book as I read along. It has heartbreaking description of the war, the prison, torture, the orphaned kids, religion, communism. fascism.

Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Book Title : Death on the NileAuthor : Agatha ChristieYear Published : 1937Date I Read : 29 Feb 2012My Rating : 6/10

Death on the Nile is the story of the murder of a rich women during her honeymoon. The story happens mainly during the Nile Cruise. Hercule Poirot is also present in the cruise and solves the mystery.

Personally, I do not like these kind of murder mysteries. So it goes without saying that I am not a big fan of Agatha Christie. Not a great thing to say out loud I guess :-( I read this cause I could not find any other book to read. I did moderately enjoy the book. It was well written.

I was part of an Indian book reading club when we were in US and when I saw that this was the title they were reading I immediately asked my dad to pick this up. Reason - I misread the title of the author as Arundhathi Roy. She is the author of the book - God of Small Things which won Booker Prize. She has not written a work of fiction since and I thought this was it. :-(

Later I realized that this was a different author. But I decided to give it a read since I have spent Rs.350 on the book. I really hated the book.

The book starts with the story of Maya who comes to live in Himalayas to find peace with herself after the death of her husband in the mountains during a hiking expedition. She helps a mountain girl Charu and lives in the house of a local Diwan Sahib. The book goes on to describe the life of Charu and her love life, her grandmother. We also see the life of Diwan Sahib. In the mean time Maya gets friendly with Diwan Sahib's nephew.

The book did not do it for me. It did not seem to have a direction. The narrative was boring. The worst part for me was how she crammed some story line in the last 20 pages to make up for the story missed in the first 300 pages.

Friday, 2 March 2012

Book Title : The Other Side of MeAuthor : Sidney SheldonYear Published : 2005Date I Read : 21 Feb 2012My Rating : 5/10

Theme

The Other Side of Me is an Autobiography of Sidney Sheldon. It is also his last book. He describes his early life, his depression and attempt to end his life. Then he moves on to be comes a successful Hollywood writer and later a producer and director. Then finally he becomes a novelist

What I thought about it

I was in my in laws house and had just finished a few books that I already had at hand. Now I was on the look out for new books. I guess this is why you should use a Kindle (We own one and my husband and I are not too keen on reading in it. more on that later.)

I picked up this book from a neighbor. To be honest I almost hated it at first and gave up on it. But picked it again cause I could not find anything else. It was not boring. It was just endless description of all the people he met and how someone gave him a chance to work and someone did not. I was like - why am I interested in it? Anyways, I did finish the book. I was surprised to read that writing novels was the last thing he did. After his film career ended.

Though I do not think highly of his books, I think as a beginner some 15 years ago, I did enjoy some of his books.

Monday, 27 February 2012

The Secret of the Nagas is part 2 of the Shiva Trilogy by Amish
Tripati. It continues the story of Shiva as a human god and his quest to find
evil.

What I thought about it

I really liked the characters of Vasudevas - the group of people assigned by an avatar of Vishnu to help the avatar of Rudhra (Shiva). Since Shiva becomes leader no one can advice him or give opinion. These characters easily bridge the gap. The author successfully uses them to bridge a lot of gaps in the story/

I am going to skip review of the book in fear of giving away too
much of the story. I highly recommend this book. Do check out the series

Saturday, 25 February 2012

Immortals of Meluha is part 1 of the Shiva Trilogy by Amish
Tripati. It is a book written fictionalizing the life of Shiva. It describes
Shiva as a tribal leader in the Himalayas who rises to be Neelakanth to help
the people of Meluha. The story revolves around different groups of people -
Suryavanshis, Chandravanshis and Nagas.

What I thought about it

When I started reading the book, I was taken aback. The first page
talks about Shiva smoking Marijuana. I was surprised it survived the hindutva
leaders J. As I read it I really enjoyed the book. It beautifully
weaves facts and characters in Shiva’s life with fiction. You will find
yourself reading about characters like Nandi, Bruhaspati etc.

If I write a lot about this book, I will give away a lot of
storyline. I really do not want to do that. If you are interested in the plot,
read it in Wikipedia link below.

Friday, 24 February 2012

ThemeRevolution 2020 is the story of childhood friends Gopal and Raghav
and their love interest Aarthi. It is set in the holy city of Varanasi. The
story revolves around Gopal who struggles in his childhood and finds ways to
overcome difficulties. It takes us thru the corruption in Indian politics,
money involved in educational institutions, coaching centers for IITs etc.

What I thought about itThis is a typical Chetan Bhagat. When I say that, anyone who likes
reading Chetan Bhagat will love reading this as well. If you are not a fan,
give it a pass. I share a love hate relationship with the author. I feel that
his books do not have the standard to be included as a literature. But I like
the quick read aspect of his books.

This book also involves the usual Chetan masala of love,
friendship, patriotism, corruption etc. It is a quick read. Don’t expect a
classic out of this.

Thursday, 26 January 2012

This is the story of Peter Sellers (the actor) written by his son Micheal with his sister Sarah and half sister Victoria. He explores the relationship Peter Sellers had with his children, his 4 marriages, his film life, his illness, his depression and crazy behavior

What I thought about it

I saw a recommendation for the book PS I love you in one of my friend's facebook profile. She said the book brought tears to her eyes. I had skipped this book as a chic flik cause of the title. But when I saw her recommendation, I decided to give it a try. When I started reading it, I knew that it was not a chic flik. Little did I know that there is another book by the same title. Now I am pretty sure my friend was referring to the other one and not this one :-)

Though many people loved PS, I am sure if they knew this side of his they will hate him. I felt sad for the people who had to deal with him in his lifetime. I did not enjoy the book cause though Micheal claims that all of them loved PS, it came off as an effort by the kids to show the world what a bad man their dad really was.

I am not sure why this is happening to me. But the last 4-5 books that I have read have not even gone past rating of 5. This has never happened before. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next few.

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Signing up for a challenge Off the shelf. I have quite a few books that are there in my shelf that I may not read. So this challenge will help me cover that. I am going to start humbly are sign up for Level Tempting (5 books). I almost am tempted to sign up for 15 books. But only problem with that is I might not be able to meet my other challenges (A to Z). So lets see how this goes and I will upgrade if possible

This challenge is to read those books you own a copy of, print, digital, and audio, you have been meaning to read, but never gotten to. Books should have been acquired before 2012. I thought I will list the books as well

This is the story of Andrea Sachs fresh out of college as an English Major aspiring to get a break in the publishing world. She signs up as a Junior Assistant to Miranda Priestly, editor of a fashion magazine. What transpires in the job and how she struggles to survive in a job she hates is the theme of the book.

What I thought about it

I picked this book up when I saw it in a car boot sale. So I paid only 50p for it. When I was not in a mood for a serious read this week, I decided to get a quick read out of this book. It was a funny book with fast paced narration. We can relate to many of the characters - the struggles to please your boss, the effort to achieve work/life balance, trying to please everyone around you when no one seems to see things from your point of view.

The book is also adapted into a movie starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. I think they both did a commendable performance in the movie.

Don't expect a great book out of it, but definitely worth it if you are looking for quick light read.

Tuesday, 24 January 2012

The story revolves around the main character Victor Jai Bhagwan, starting from his childhood leading on to his adult life. The setting is in pre and post independence India. Jai Bhagwan and his daughter Bharati resemble Nehru and Indira Gandhi.

What I thought about it

I saw this book in the library. I have read Train to Pakistan by Kushwant Singh a long time ago and really enjoyed reading it. That inspired me to pick this book up.

The book starts off ok and was an easy read. It describes Victor's childhood, his foreign education, come back to India etc. You will keep wondering where the story is leading to. Half way thru, the author seems to have forgotten what he was doing and starts describing Tantric Sex of Victor and Maa Durgeshwari, not to forget the seducing of his daughter Bharati by some yoga master. At some point I felt like I was reading some porno book, and that too written very bad. Save yourself and give it a pass.

3. Read reviews by fellow bloggers to get book ideas. This is kind of tricky. When it comes to book or movie, I am very particular not to know the story before I read. Even knowing what the flow is bothers me. My friends know that very well :-) So how do I read a review without reading story? I want to know if someone who read a book enjoyed it and I want to know why they enjoyed it cause that will help me decide if I will enjoy it....

4. I want to be able to write something about the book I read. That is the tough part. I have never written about any books though I read a lot. Hope you will be patient with me as I learn how to do this. And I am yet not too sure how to write without giving away too much (see #3 above). So I decided writing succinctly for now is the way to go.

How I rate books

Since I am going to attach a number to the books I read, I want to just write a word about what it means to me. I am rating out of 10.

1,2 - you will mostly not see these numbers. If the book is that bad, I would not have finished it.

3 - I barely survived. I hated it.

4 - There were a few bits that were ok. But still a bad book.

5 - An ok book. You can read it. Would not go and find it to read.

6 - A lot of books fall under this category. Just time pass. No negative

7 - I liked it.

8 - I loved it (If I rate 8, I highly recommend it).

9 - One of the best books read. (You may see one or 2 a year).

10 - The perfect book (I have almost never rated any book 10. I think I should have only 2-3 books in this category in my lifetime)

Monday, 23 January 2012

The A to Z Reading Challenge, which shall henceforth be known as AZRC, challenges you to read and review one book starting with every letter of the alphabet. There are three possible challenges you can partake in.

1. Author - A to Z by authors last name, 26 books.2. Title - A to Z by book title, 26 books.3. Double Whammy - Do both Challenge 1 and 2 for a total 52 books.

I saw this challenge in S Krishna's site and was really excited. I am really looking forward to be part of this challenge. I will keep updating this post as I read along. I would like to read a humble target of 10 books under this challenge.

People do a lot of stuff in their free time. Watching TV seems to be the #1 thing people seem to be doing when they have some time to spare. I think it is closely followed by browsing the internet. Books seem to be very low in the priority for many people.

When I was little, for some reason books were never part of my life. I started reading when I was about 15. A friend of mine (Meena) used to go to a library in my hometown (Ellor in Trivandrum) and I tagged along with her and read my first book. I am pretty sure it was Fever by Robin Cook. It took me a month to read it. I was that slow.

The next step was when my mom saw that I was probably interested in reading, she got me a library membership and I read a few books.

But that was not the time when I actually started reading. Fast forward a couple of years.... I was in college by this time. I was talking to a friend of mine (Dilip) and he mentioned some popular books. I had no clue what he was talking about. He could not believe I did not know what he was talking about. He laughed and laughed till he had tears in his eyes. More so cause he saw tears in mine :-(

That was the day I knew I had a challenge in front of me. I knew I had to read just so that I could prove I can. See those where the days I really would achieve anything cause I wanted to prove that I can.

Anyways, I started reading a lot around that time. My college work did not give me much time to do as much. But I kept on. Soon I forgot all about the challenge. I was really enjoying what I was doing.

Then I moved to Chennai for work. There I found a reading partner in my friend Narthana. I got membership in a little library in Adayar (Chennai) I started reading atleast 2-3 books a month.

The best phase was when I moved to US. I could not believe that libraries had so many books and all of them was free. I read with more vigour. I read at a rate of 2-3 books a week. I really miss those days.

Then came the slow days. Marriage and a kid later, I was almost giving up hope that I will ever read again. But my husband was encouraging. The move to UK also helped. Books are so cheap here. I always order something or other from Amazon. I started slowly. I read a book or 2 a month. Not bad.

I teamed up with a few of my friends in Facebook and we do a group called Bookworms. We all read and post comments every month. That was interesting...

I was so naive and never realized that there could be blogs about books. I started blogging a couple of months ago. I started a cooking blog. I am not a great cook. But the blog inspired me to do more. Though I read a lot, I am not too good at writing about what I read. May be, this blog will be the one to inspire me to read more and also to write about it.

I saw a few challenges in different blogs that I might sign up for. This is going to be interesting. I am not going to write a lot (atleast initially). So hang on there with me.

And last, but not the least - I am looking for all the encouragement, comments and feedback from all of you out there. Lets begin this new journey today!

About Me

My name is Roshni Chandrasekar. I am a Tamilian from Trivandrum in Kerala. I currently live in Basingstoke in UK with my husband and 3 year old son. The blog Arusuvai Kurippu is a cooking blog dedicated to my mother Mythili. Check out my other blog - Roshni's Library as well.